Armed pro-government militia members flash victory signs as they occupy the Monimbo neighborhood of Masaya, Nicaragua, Wednesday, July 18, 2018. On Tuesday, Nicaraguan government forces retook the symbolically important neighborhood that had become a center of resistance to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)

OAS condemns human rights abuses in Nicaragua

July 18, 2018 - 6:55 pm

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Organization of American States adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning human rights abuses committed by Nicaraguan police and armed pro-government civilians since protests against President Daniel Ortega began in mid-April.

The resolution, which was adopted 21-3 with seven abstentions, also criticized the harassment of Roman Catholic bishops.

Catholic officials who have been mediating stalled talks on finding a peaceful solution to the standoff and have criticized Ortega's government over killings have suffered at least three recent attacks.

The OAS resolution by Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. called on Ortega to support an electoral calendar agreed upon during the dialogue process.

Ortega has rejected demands for early elections and calls those seeking his exit "coup mongers."

In the past week, Ortega's government and supporters have moved aggressively against the remaining resistance, including dislodging students from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and pushing into a rebel neighborhood in the city of Masaya.

On Wednesday, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada blasted the OAS for adopting the resolution, calling it "illegal, illegitimate and unfair."

"We have working institutions, a rule of law, a Constitution," he said minutes before the vote. "That's why it is not right that this permanent council becomes a sort of court that no one has authorized nor given power to pass judgment on Nicaragua."

Moncada said the government is subject "to attacks from terrorist groups to overthrow a legitimate government."

"Thanks brother countries of the American continent that have joined in solidarity with the pain and fight of the Nicaraguan people!" he wrote.

On Tuesday, Nicaraguan government forces retook the symbolically important neighborhood of Monimbo in Masaya southeast of the capital. It had recently become a center of resistance to Ortega's government.

On Wednesday, Azucena Lopez Garcia buried her son Erick Antonio Lopez, a college student shot defending a barricade when police and armed civilians surrounded and gunned their way into Monimbo. Police commissioner Ramon Avellan has said he received orders to take control of the city by any means necessary.

"Monimbo is devastated," Lopez Garcia said tearfully at her son's graveside. "The youth are fleeing their homes."

She said she was burying her family member, but other mothers do not know where their sons were taken.

Pickup truck loads of pro-government civilians masked and armed with rifles and shotguns drove through the streets of Monimbo honking their horns and waving the red-and-black flag of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front in celebration.

One man wearing a black ski mask and blue T-shirt denied that he and others were government backed paramilitaries, though the heavily armed men moved freely in front of national police patrols.

"I'm a normal resident," he said, declining to give his name. "The very same residents had to free ourselves."

While the OAS held its session, a bipartisan group of 10 U.S. senators introduced legislation that seeks to impose sanctions on Nicaraguan government officials responsible for protester deaths, human rights violations and acts of corruption. It also calls for a negotiated political solution to the crisis.

"We can't stay silent as Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo target their own people, as evidenced by the images of students being shot while seeking refuge inside of a church," said Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and one of the bill's sponsors.

In Mexico City, Pilar Sanmartin, a crisis researcher with Amnesty International, called on Ortega's government to seek a peaceful resolution through dialogue. "But in a sincere way, an honest way."

She said nearly 2,000 people have been wounded in fighting during the past three months since pension cuts were announced and then quickly withdrawn in mid-April.

The Nicaraguan Pro-Human Rights Association had tallied 351 deaths between April 19 and July 10. The government says more than 200 people have been killed since the unrest began.

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Associated Press writers JoeBill Munoz and Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.